Honda Civic Serpentine Belt Installation and Tensioning

I show how to install and tension the serpentine belt on a Honda Civic 2001-2005. If you hear squealing, it is likely a loose belt. This belt wraps around the alternator, AC compressor, and harmonic balancer.

[@kylej8981]

Picked an 04 civic up cheap for a daily, this is one of the worst belt setup’s ive seen.(Coming from subaru land) that also has the manual belt tensioner, this civic has to be pretty spot on to not squeal. Thanks for the vid man, saved me frustration after 4 attempts of trying to set it where i thought was correct

[@glenhodgetts6448]

I was trying to find out how to avoid too much tension and not burn out the bearings. Your video was very helpful in that nobody else's videos talk about belt tension without a tensioner. My 98 Accord does not have a tensioner. I have to manually adjust the belt. (Sa.e set up as yours. I changed my alternator and put my belt back to the same position it was in as I marked the adjusting bolt and then I ended up with an awful squeal. Nothing wrong with my belt. After watching your video I thought to myself well maybe I just need to tighten it tad and ta daaaa! Thanks pal!👍

[@takerslady6969]

Thank you, Vincent, I have the exact same problem. My brother replaced both belts for me 6 months ago, and now I have that squealing noise. So you know who I will be seeing to fix it. lol! I printed out the transcript of this video for my brother to read before he goes to tighten my belt for me.

[@takerslady6969]

My 2004 honda civc ex has a manual transmission 5 speed

[@ITisCRAIG]

Cheers man my civics belt developed a small squeak and I've just tightened it slightly for now ✌️

[@legacy5097]

The best way to tighten the belt I found was to loosen the bolt holding the alternator and the 12mm bolt below (he points it out in the video) then you can turn that wingnut easily with your 12mm wrench. Hope that helps

[@kennethhamilton1513]

Definitely easier with a wrench on the wingnut 👌

[@Disreputable91]

Definitely....

[@rotaryskratch18]

There's also wingnut sockets, they work great.

[@deleted6343]

so dont loosen the 14mm bolt

[@Deceptive6]

Thank you so much bro, I tried so many time to tighten it but nothing worked but this.

[@chrisfisichella6659]

Thank you. I made the same exact mistake. You saved me a ton of time. Thanks for preparing and posting this video.

[@jacintocortes7923]

So I just fixed mine the wing nut right next to the alternator the hex shape was rusted out so I couldn’t fit a 12 mm wrench on it. Don’t panic if this happens to you all you need to do is get a 1/2 ratchet with a 27 mm socket so that it fits over both wings on the wing nut to tighten up it works just as good as a 12 mm wrench

[@johnriley215]

The real issue is that Honda did not provide enough wrap of the belt on the pulleys. They should have added an idler pulley to get some serious wrap on both the alternator and the AC pump. The only solution is to tighten the belt up so tight that the bearings are at risk on the alternator. Bad job Honda.

[@pbr549]

Interesting. I have a similar problem and my answer was the same. I retightened both and now it works well. Only 60k till I have to change the timing belt. Good luck take care.

[@jds9336]

Did your belt squeal when breaking and accelerating? Im having the same sound.

[@0x45Swims]

I couldn’t remember what size the bolt was down there thanks. Didn’t wanna lose a socket guessing
And yeah for some reason the serpentine belt needs way more tension than you would think. Power steering pump isn’t anywhere near as sensitive

[@buglover-qb1dq]

Same squealing sound. Eventually broke the belt. Bought another new AC compressor yet to be installed

[@rivervisual7802]

The lower wingnut / stud fought me the whole way,as it was crusty.

[@jimjam36695]

Same issue. Tightening the belt made the squealing go away. Now the battery indicator in the instrument cluster flickers sometimes. Not sure if something happened to the alternator.

[@businessraptor134]

That's a symptom of being too loose. Alternator is either slipping or the diode on it is going bad

[@jimjam36695]

@@businessraptor134 Turns out the lug connected on the backside of the alternator was not actually connected. It was pressing hard against the post so able to generally make an electrical connection due to the other connector pulling it taut.
Just enough to work most of the time. Geez.

[@YungiinTFU_2K24]

Gates Micro V are the best belts for all my Hondas

[@bobvargas1024]

"squealing like a pig" LOL!

[@godowrk3360]

Thanks bro

[@balloney2175]

Redo it so we can learn from you.

[@elemix27]

It’s pretty straightforward. That would just waste his time.

[@GuntarsReboks]

tnx

[@Ed-sx3uz]

Awesome Ty

[@anyITsolution]

Thanks.. had posted the wrong comment..

[@alexwilliams1983]

Tought all of this gen civics had eps electric power stering . Mine as

[@patosborne007]

so far i accidently loosened a 14 down there. must be a 12 somewhere (lower alt. bolt)but this vid..he says right there in the shadows-I'LL HAVE TO FIND A BETTER VID & i STRONGLY SUGGEST u TAKE IT TO A SHOP!

[@MrSweetvictor]

About to do this today will add my experience in the comments

[@micha8562]

How was it

[@yungzed]

liar

[@ELDJNACHO]

Legend says he still hasn’t gotten around to it

[@chumleychumchizer9035]

OmG! Died suddenly?